On 18th October we will launch our new Belonging Strategy 2021-2024 for children and families. This new strategy sets out how we will continue to work as a city to ensure that this is a city for all children and young people, one which young people can be proud of and a place where they and their families can thrive.
Co-constructed with local children, young people and parents/carers, we asked Bristol’s children and young people if they see themselves, their histories, cultures and identities reflected in their city. We also asked them how it feels to grow up here and what more we should do to ensure that families can thrive and children achieve their ambitions, and how can we create communities and a city that belongs to us all – one in which everyone sees themselves and benefits from its success.
The result is our Belonging Strategy – a true One City approach to achieving what children, young people and families want for themselves. It focuses on how we work together across health, education, voluntary, community and business sectors as well as across the council to empower families and be ready with a little extra help when it’s needed to ensure we have strong, resilient families in safe and inclusive communities and a city that children and young people feel able to own.
One City partners will be working together through the Children and Young People’s One City Board to drive our work on inclusion, equality and social justice in Bristol.
Our work on Belonging has been organised into four themes, and a strategy has been developed for each of these, as follows:
• Belonging from the Beginning
These strategies support and will deliver on the intentions of the Bristol One City Plan, the Bristol Children’s Charter, and the Bristol Equalities Charter.
COVID-19 has had a massive impact on children and young people, some of the impacts we have yet to see, they account for around 20% of our population but they are 100% of our future, if we want to recover within a generation and provide an excellent future for the city, we have to work together and invest in our children and young people now. The Belonging Strategy provides a road map setting out how we will do this.